Reviews

As a police procedural there's a lot missing. Like 95% of the procedure! But even just focusing on the intuitive leaps of analysis, a lot of the movie doesn't ring true. Especially the stupid political hacks in the Governor's office and senior FBI leadership. But nevertheless, 7 stars for Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn. Both are great. Just wish Ben would have talked a bit louder. At many points I could hardly hear the dialogue. Especially while eating potato crisps. Loved the cannibalism towards the end but otherwise a strangely weak resolution! If this were Vera Stanhope the investigation would have had a lot more authenticity to it, I reckon.

Was an Academy Award winner ever seen subsequently in a more demeaning role than J-Law in this one? She doesn't need to take her clothes off and do uncomfortably 'sexy' scenes like the trashy exploitative nude scenes in this movie. They were just gratuitous in my view. The movie could (and I think should) have been made just as well, or better, without forcing her to get nekkid like that. No-one else was nude or eroticised in that way. But I guess that's just what young women in Hollywood still have to do to earn a crust. What happened to #MeToo ?

It reminded me of the uncomfortable strip tease scene in True Lies. I felt embarrassed, both then and now, watching Jamie-Lee Curtis having to go through that when it could have been handled much less erotically (even though, in that one she kept the skimpy bikini on). It just seemed like an old man producer casting couch wet dream!

Anyway, I think J-Law deserves better roles than this kind of trash.

Great first episode to the new season. This was pretty weird to begin with (poor Demerzel!) but by the end you could kinda see where it was going (if you squint hard enough!!!). Hopefully resolved a couple of the plot twists from season one. I can now almost imagine how the Second Foundation might end up on Trantor, as in the books, instead of Helicon. The first three books were so thin and prosaic, the writers here are doing a great job to make the story interesting! And Lee Pace! Those abs!!! My only real criticism here is that rescuing the sunken spaceship seemed too easy (flick a switch!). Could perhaps have used a little more of Salvor's nous, that she showed with the Invictus in season one!

Came to this cold, without any exposure to the game. Mostly pretty good but the visual effects seem a bit too much like animation. And Cortana! Looks like a Disney cartoon! It's like the penguins in Mary Poppins! Definitely needs a 3D upgrade, make her more believable!

The story is told more excitingly in the tv series than the book.

I read the first book in the series before watching season one. Contrary to many of the reviews, so far, I actually think they got it pretty right in the TV show. The first book is pretty slow and, to me, badly written. I'm told they get better around book 4. Sincerely hope so!

But the tv series accelerates things, combines action in several towns into one town, and has important action scenes only implied and not detailed in the book - like the initial trolloc attack on Emond's Field and confronting the false dragon. Critical for a visual medium but only referenced second hand or not at all in the book. And splitting up the group at the end allows them all to have more meaningful roles instead of being pretty much bystanders in the book.

Not as great as Game of Thrones. But not bad for a first season!

Excellent coda to the previous films and sort of makes up for the over-wordy pontifications of the Architect in eps 2 and 3! Neil Patrick Harris is great!! Keanu and Carrie-Anne Moss are fabulous!

Emelia Clarke is so likeable and good in this movie. As are Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh. This is definitely light fare but it doesn't sag even on the sixth or seventh viewing. It's feelgood and uplifting every time. And I just love watching Clarke and Golding together. Call me sentimental!

Interesting movie and great visual style but so dreadfully slow! Made for a very tedious experience but I saw it through! Acting is good but not much happens for a feature length film.

Ben Whishaw is great. Including in this. Just wish he'd limit himself to great parts where he is the focus and great directors. Less of the quirky art films, shorts and bit parts! You're better than that Ben! Almost stopped watching this early on due to the terrible 'queasy-cam' handheld camera which is relentless. The lead female confusingly sounds almost exactly like Emily Blunt. But isn't! At least, she has a separate profile! The bit players are not of the same caliber, though. Which made the supposedly shocking bits slightly unbelievable. Except for Richard Hope who has too little screen time.

Can't quite decide between this and Hardhome. Spectacular, sweeping, rhapsodic, like a symphony, so detailed but with a driving narrative structure that held you transfixed. The first 30 minutes felt like an hour, so much had happened. Hard to believe when the trenches were lit there was still two thirds of the show still to come. Breathtaking. If Ramin Djawadi doesn't get an Emmy for this episode there is no justice. Miguel Sapochnik also. {Edit 2023: So much better in 4k too! 😃}

Seemed kinda interesting and arty to begin with but it gets a bit boring in the second half, as the other reviews note. Then one of the characters' story and personality gets weirder and the interest picks up a bit towards the end.